The Long Game
by truthhurtsliesheal
Summary: Another Maya/Josh one shot based off of Girl Meets the Tell-Tale Tot. In which Josh walks Maya home and feelings are shared.
1. Chapter 1

Maya and her conscience walked out of Rileys room and towards the living room. Maya was ready to start growing up and becoming more mature. She was about to walk down the short step into the living room before noticing Josh was still there. Maya still a bit embarrassed by everything that had happened at NYU, contemplated waiting til he left to walk out. She eventually decided to just walk out.

She stepped down and immediately Josh looked up to see Maya. Maya just looked down and started walking over to the door.

"Maya." Josh called and she looked up at him.

"Hey Josh. I thought you already left." Maya responded, trying not to make it obvious that she was embarassed and a bit nervous. Maya Hart was anything but the nervous type but Josh brought out a side of her that she never even knew existed.

"Yeah, I had forgot my phone charger and I came up here to get it." He said putting his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

"Oh." Maya responded in a nonchalant tone.

Maya and Josh just looked at each other and a moment of awkward silence passed. Maya stared into Josh's brown eyes trying to figure out what he was thinking and Josh was doing the same. They both stopped staring after a few seconds the before Maya finally perked up and said something.

"Well, I'm gonna walk home now." Maya said before putting her head down and walking towards the door.

"Let me walk you home." Josh said and Maya smiled in excitement before turning around and looking back at Josh.

"You don't have to." Maya said, hopeful that he would insist.

"But I want to." Josh said and Maya smiled at him.

"Okay." She said and with that they both walked out of the door.

Maya and Josh has gotten downstairs and walked outside of Riley's apartment complex with out much being said. Although, normally Maya would've been excited getting to spend some alone time with Josh,but after what happened at NYU and him calling her mature earlier she kind of felt more anxious. She was worried about saying the wrong thing and him looking at her as Riley's little friend again. They walked two blocks away before Maya finally said something.

"Josh you really don't have to walk me home. I'm used to walking home by myself, or just being by myself in general." Maya said.

"I want to, because that just the kind of guy I am." Josh said repeating what Maya had said to him last night. He made a mental note about what Maya had just said about being used to being by herself. He wanted to remember to inquire about that at a later date.

"I know." Maya said with a slight smile and to her surprise he returned it.

"Riley told me that you can draw." Josh said trying to make conversation and lose some of the awkwardness.

"Yeah I can a little and I paint a little too." Maya said modestly.

"You have to show me some of your drawings next time I'm here." Josh said and Maya excitedly responded by saying "Sure."

Josh chuckled at her excitement and Maya just glanced down, emabarassed by her reaction.

"You know, I used to draw a bit when I was younger," Josh said before continuing and saying "I guess we do have something in common."

"Why did you stop?" Maya asked curiously.

"I don't know. I guess I just didn't have the time for it anymore. I guess I just got too busy. I kind of wanted to start again, I just need a little inspiration."

"When I don't know what to draw, I like to go places and see things and people. That inspires me."

"Maybe I should give it a try that. Next time I'm here, lets go somewhere for inspiration."

"Alone?" Maya asked and Josh chuckled.

"No, you can bring your other half and Auggie." Josh said and Maya felt both relieved and a little upset at the same time.

"Yeah, that sounds fun." Maya said sincerely and Josh smirked at her.

The rest of their walk was filled with silence, but not awkward silence anymore, but a more comfortable silence. When they got to Maya's home, she pulled out her keys and fiddled with them as they stood on the steps to her building.

"I can make my way up from here," she told him, opening the door and biting the corner of her bottom lip slightly. "Thank you for walking me home."

She waited for him to respond but with no sign that he was going to reply, she went to walk inside. Maya was caught off guard when she heard Josh call her name.

"Maya, wait," Josh finally spoke up, grabbing the door before it closed and standing in the doorway. "About last night, I-"

"You don't have to," she cut him off.

"No, I want to," he replied, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I never took your feelings for me seriously. I always thought you were just Riley's friend who had a crush, but I was wrong. You're different than I thought, and I'm really, really sorry it took me this long to realize it."

"It's okay," she promised. "I'm just glad you finally realized it."

He nodded, remaining quiet for a moment as his eyes glanced to the ground before he looked back up at her. "You do understand that _right now_ , I'm still too old for you, right?"

"Yeah I understand." she sighed.

"Good." Josh said, looking down awkwardly.

"I'm still in it for the long game though." Maya said referencing something she had told him before.

He chuckled at that, and she had a slight giggle. "Yeah, I figured, but oddly, I'm okay with that." he told her. He stepped closer and leaned down to kiss her cheek, her eyes falling closed as he did so.

Maya started blushing and smiling all at the same time.

"I think the lesson of that nigth was that the long game is better anyways. See you soon Maya." Josh said and with that he walked out of the building and Maya walked to her apartment with a smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This was originally supposed to be a one shot, but then I started writing again and well here you go. This is also a one shot, but it goes along with the conversation Maya and Josh had in the first story. Hope you enjoy, I love writing about these two so if you want, you can give me some prompts. Sorry for any errors.**

It was Valentine's Day, as well as Joshua Matthews 18th birthday. He came to New York City to visit his brother and family for his birthday. It was 7:30 am and Josh was still on the couch sleeping. Auggie, was the first to come to walk into the living room to wake Josh up. Cory, Topanga, and Riley followed closely behind. Auggie jumped on Josh and yelled "Happy Birthday!".

Josh woke up instantly and had a big smile one his face. Everyone else yelled "Happy Birthday" and Josh picked up Auggie to give him a hug.

"Wow thanks guys." Josh said smiling.

"What do you want for breakfast Josh? Your birthday your choice." Topanga said with a smile on her face.

"Uhh...hm I don't know. Pancakes sound good. Thank you Topanga." He responded sitting back down on the couch with Auggie in his lap. Cory went and sat next to him and put his arm around Josh.

"Buddy, how does it feel to finally be 18." Cory asked.

"Yeah do you feel different at all?" Riley asked.

"No not really. I don't even feel like an adult." Josh said.

Just like any other morning, Maya opened the front door casually walking in. She didn't notice Josh was there at first.

"Hey guys. Riley you ready for school?" She asked before bringing her attention to the boy sitting on the couch.

"Hey Maya." Josh said before hopping up to give her a hug. Maya looked at him in disbelief before hugging him back. If you asked anyone but them, they would say the hug lasted a few seconds too long. They finally let go and Maya had a smile on her face.

"Is she gonna faint?" Auggie asked Riley.

"I don't know. Let's keep watching." Riley responded then they both turned their attention back to Josh and Maya.

"You're here just visiting?" Maya asked. She couldn't recall Riley mentioning that Josh was coming for anything.

"No I just got here last night cause today's my birthday and I wanted to spend it here." Josh said with a smile.

"Oh I didn't know. Happy Birthday Josh." Maya said with a smile. After she said that, she realized that it was Valentine's Day and she found it really cute that his birthday was on a romantic holiday.

"Thank you." He responded before awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets.

"So you're 18 now? You're an adult now." Maya said casually.

"It doesn't really feel any different from 17."

"Yeah well you should enjoy it while it lasts cause before you know it you'll be 57 just like Mr. Matthews." Maya said and they both started laughing. Cory looked up and over at the too in shock.

"I'm 32." Cory said and Riley looked over at him and yelled "WHAT!"

"Shouldn't you guys be heading to school or something." Cory said.

"He's right Riles, and I have to go do something when we get to school." Maya said before starting to walk back over to the door.

"What do you have to do?" Riley inquired.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Maya said and before Riley could push further Josh decided to say something.

"You guys coming to my birthday dinner tonight?" Josh asked and then Maya got an idea.

"Yeah, we'll be there." Riley said.

Her and Maya walked out of the apartment and took they're usually route to school. Once they got to school, they went to their first period class which ironically was her father Cory's class. After History class, Riley barley saw Maya all day. Riley was a little worried, and curious about what Maya was up to because they usually spent the whole day together.

By lunch time, Riley still hasn't seen much of Maya and she was growing more and more worried each passing moment. She sat down with her lunch at their usually table with her two friends, Farkle and Lucas.

"Hey Riley. Where's Maya?" Farkle asked curiously. Everyone knows that Riely and Maya are practically inseparable.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her." Riley confessed.

"What? Maya's not been with you all day? Is she sick?" Farkle asked confused.

"I don't know, I haven't seen or heard from her since first period." Riley said before Lucas finally perked up.

"I saw her in the art room earlier but she didn't say much about what she was doing." Lucas said and Riley got up to go the art room.

She some how made the two and half minute walk from the Cafeteria to the art room only last about a minute. When she walked into the art room, she saw Maya working really hard on something. Maya looked up and saw her best friend standing in front of the threshold.

"Maya what's going on?" Riley asked walking over to Maya.

Maya flipped the page in her sketchbook to a blank sheet so Riley couldn't see what she was working on.

"Nothing just doing some sketching." Maya said and Riley sat next to her.

"Can I see what you were working on?" Riley asked.

"Not yet." Maya said with a small smirk.

The rest of the day passed by quickly and when the school day was over, Riley went home by herself and Maya went to finish working on whatever she was doing. Before Riley knew it, it was 6:30 and they were in the restaurant for Josh's birthday dinner.

"Where Maya?" Topanga asked and before Riley could say she doesn't know Josh chimed in.

"Yeah, I thought she was coming." Josh said.

"I don't know where she is but she's coming. I'm sure of it." Riley said.

"Okay let's order then." Cory said.

Maya walked in with a rectangular shaped gift wrapped in shiny blue wrapping paper. No one noticed her walking in so she tried to keep the gift out of site. She decided to take off her jacket and put it underneath it so no one could see it.

When she got closer to the table the family noticed that Maya was there. They had already ordered with out her, and were now waiting for their food.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I had something that I needed to get." Maya said before sitting down next to Riley.

"Well I'm glad you could be here." Josh said genuinely and Maya smiled at him and he smiled back at her.

"What did you need to get?" Riley whispered curiously.

"You'll see later." Maya said before sipping some of her water.

Riley was wondering what Maya was up to, but decided to wait until they got home so they could talk in the bay window.

Dinner passed by with many laughs and some tears, from laughing so hard. Cory paid the bill and had them bring him a personalized cake that said "Happy 18th Birthday Josh" on it.

They got back home and Maya was still able to hide the gift she got for Josh.

"I don't mean to pushy, but I've waited long enough," Josh said and then continued by saying "Where are the presents?"

Auggie grabbed his gift bag and ran over to Josh.

"Uncle Josh open mine first." He said sweetly.

"Try and stop me." Josh said with a smile and he started opening his present.

Josh opened the bag and moved the gift tissue out of the way to see the Auggie's gift at the bottom. It was a blue beanie. Anyone who knew him, knew that he loved to wear beanies. This one was probably going to be his new favorite because it came from Auggie.

"Aw a beanie. Thanks buddy." Josh said pulling Auggie in for a hug.

"Alright I guess I'm next." Riley said picking up

Riley's gift for him was a camera. She said she wanted him to take pictures and capture all of the amazing moments he had at NYU. He was really excited and gave Riley a big hug. Next was Cory and Topanga.

"Josh this ones from us." Topanga said handing Josh a large envelope. Josh was confused but he took the envelope from her and opened it. He realized that it was a round trip plane ticket to California. He jumped up in excitement.

"What you guys got me a plane ticket to go to California." Josh said practically jumping in excitement.

"Yes. You always said you wanted to go and Shawn has project out there over the summer so we figured why not." Cory said and Josh ran over to him and Topanga and gave them the biggest hug.

"Thank you guys so much. This really means a lot." Josh said.

"I got you a gift too Josh." Maya finally perked up and said.

Maya had been usually silent during the gift giving exchange and Josh was shocked that she had actually got him a gift. She lifted her jacket that was on her lap and revealed the gift that she had wrapped in shiny blue paper.

"Wow. Thanks Maya." Josh said walking over to her.

"What do you think she got him?" Cory whispered to Topanga.

"Tracking device?" Auggie said and they giggled.

"Maya is that what you were doing before you came to dinner?" Riley asked and Maya nodded her head slightly.

Josh opened the the gift to see a framed sketch of Cory, Auggie, and himself.

"Maya you did this yourself?" Josh asked in shock.

"Yeah. Remember when you said next time you were here you wanted to see my drawings? Well there it is. Something you can hang up in your dorm when you go to college."

"I had no idea that you were this good." He said before finally looking up at her again.

"Well what is it?" Cory asked getting impatient.

Josh flipped the picture around so Cory could see it. Cory, Topanga, and Riley all gasped at how good the sketch was.

"Maya that's beautiful. Why don't you show off your art more often?" Topanga asked.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just a little scared to put my stuff out there for people to see. This is the only thing I'm good at, and if people don't like them..." Maya started before Riley cut her off.

"But people will love your art work, because you're so good. And even if they don't who cares their opinions shouldn't matter to you." Riley said and before Maya could respond Cory chimed in.

"Yeah Maya. You have a real talent, that the world needs to see." Cory finished and again before Maya could respond someone else chimed in.

"They're right Maya. I hope that one day you get the courage to show case your talent." Josh said.

"Thanks guys. Maybe I will." Maya said with a soft smile.

"Okay now who wants cake?" Topanga asked and everyone ran over to the kitchen except for Maya and Josh.

"I think this might be my favorite gift ever." Josh said glancing over at Maya.

"Really?" Maya asked with a smile.

"Yes, you did this today?" Josh asked and Maya shook her head.

"No I've been working on it off and on since the last time you were here. I was gonna give it to you when you moved here but I just finished it today and decided to just give it to you for your birthday."

"Thank you so much Maya. This really means a lot to me." Josh said before pulling her into a big hug. After they broke a part Josh gave her a quick forehead kiss and Maya started blushing like she normally did around him. Riley was glancing over at them from the kitchen with a smirk. When they walked over Maya sat next to Riley. Riley had a smirk on her face.

"What?" Maya asked smiling and knowing exact reason for Riley demeanor.

"You are still not going to be my aunt." Riley teased and Maya started laughing.

"I can't hear you *scats*." Maya said before turning her attention back to the table.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** **Because I'm such Joshaya trash, I'm working on another Joshaya one shot that goes along with these two. When Josh visits their class Riley starts to question what happened with Josh and Maya, and why they're really close now. Also, there's a dance coming up too. Give me some ideas such as why Josh came to visit etc...hoping to post tonight so please jump on it (:**


	4. Chapter 4

Josh has found himself coming to New York more than ever recently. He can't really explain why but he has been feeling the need to come almost every weekend now. His visits usually consisted of him playing with Auggie or taking him somewhere, hanging out with Cory, and spending time with Maya. Although he hated to admit it, he loved spending time with her. It was weird, unusual, and borderline inappropriate but he didn't really care.

He walked into his brother's home and like usual the family was sitting in the living room plus Maya who was sitting in the kitchen with her earphones in. They all, except Maya, looked up when Josh walked in, and as usual Auggie was the first to run over to Josh.

"Joshie!" Auggie yelled before Josh picked him and put him on his shoulders. "I still love it up here."

Riley was next as usual, followed by Cory and Topanga who quickly hugged him and went back to sit in front of the TV. Josh slammed Auggie down face first into the second couch just like always and then turned his attention to Riley.

"What's wrong with Maya, why is she over there by herself?" Josh asked Riley and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know she won't tell me and it's really bothering me." Riley said.

Her and Josh walked over to where Maya was sitting and Riley sat down next to her. Riley's presence caused her to take out her ear phones and look at her.

"What?" Maya said softly to which Riley responded by saying "Nothing."

Before Maya could inquire further, Josh sat down on the other said of her and said "Geez Maya, I thought you'd be happier to see me."

Maya immediately turned her attention to the handsome boy on her left. Her eyes lit up like they did every other time he was around and she started smiling.

"Hey Josh." She exclaimed before throwing her arms around his neck, he returned the action by wrapping his arms around her waist. The moment feeling like it lasted forever was cut short when Maya decided to break it up. Riley who was sitting on the other side of Maya with a smirk, suddenly was feeling like a third wheel.

"What's wrong Maya?" Josh asked getting straight to the point. Right after Josh spoke, Maya looked up and over at Riley. She started to glare at her as Riley tried to act like she didn't hear anything.

"Riley!" Maya exclaimed angrily.

"Maya, I'm worried about you." Riley said. Before Maya could even gather her thoughts to respond, Josh spoke up.

"Don't be mad at Riley, she's your best friend who cares about you." Josh said and Riley looked over at Josh sending him a "Thank you" with her eyes.

Riley knew that Maya had a soft spot for Josh, so she would forgive her faster if Josh told her too.

"Maya tell us what's wrong." Riley said.

"I can't go to the 8th grade Farewell dance next week because don't have a date." Maya admitted.

"You don't need a date a date to go." Riley said.

"Yes I do, if I don't I'm going to look like a loser. You're going with Ranger Rick, and even Farkle has a date." Maya said and Josh looked at her sympathetically.

"What if I can find you a date?" Riley piped up with a smile on her face. She had an idea.

Riley, you can't fix everything. The dance is in a week how are you going to find me a date?" Maya said picking her head back up and looking over at Riley, who was giving Maya the same look she always gave when Maya doubted her.

"Fine, go ahead." Maya said defeated before Riley hopped up and ran to her bedroom. Riley knew this was around the time that Farkle came to the bay window and she might need him for this scheme.

Maya looked over at Josh who was staring at her. She didn't notice this, obviously, because she had her backed turned to him, but it made her wonder how long he had been looking at her. She shrugged the idea from her mind and just considered it to be a coincidence.

"What's wrong with me?" Maya wondered out loud, not necessarily wanting Josh to hear but he heard it anyway.

"There's nothing wrong with you Maya. You are gorgeous and any guy would be lucky to go with you to a dance."

"Then why hasn't anyone asked me?"

"Wanna hear a story?" Josh said being fully able to relate to her.

"Sure."

"I didn't get a date to my first dance either."

"What? How? Look at you, you mean no one wanted to go to the dance with you?" Maya said and Josh chuckled and then started blushing. Before he used to find it a bit creepy when Maya made remarks about his appearance, but now he found it a bit endearing.

"No, I asked out 6 different girls and none of them wanted to go with me."

"What is wrong with Philadelphians?"

"I don't know. Then I got to high school and everything changed. People started looking at me differently. Maybe the same thing will happen to you."

—–

"Lucas!" Riley whispered loudly from her table in the cafeteria. Maya was in line getting food and Riley wanted to talk to Lucas before Maya sat down with her.

"What?" Lucas responded mimicking her, much to Riley's amusement.

"I need to help Maya find a date to the dance," Riley explained to him, "Do any boy's still need dates?"

"I don't think Zay has asked anyone," Lucas mentioned, exciting Riley.

"Can you tell him to ask Maya? Please!" Riley begged him, nudging him in Zay's direction.

"Fine," Lucas replied as he was almost to where Zay was sitting."

Riley was shocked at how easy that was, and sort of annoyed with herself for not asking Lucas first. Farkle was absolutely no help what so ever.

"What was that about?" Maya questioned as she took the seat previously inhabited by Lucas.

"Oh nothing," Riley lied through her teeth.

"Okay weirdo." Maya responded, before picking up her chocolate milk carton and opening it.

—–

It was Friday night and Maya and Riley were about to start getting ready for their 8th grade farewell dance. They heard a knock on the door and they autmoatically knew it was Josh.

"Come in Josh." Riley yelled not bothering to look up from what she was doing.

He walked in and looked at the two girls who were in the bay window in Riley's room on their phones. Riley was sitting up right but Maya was stretched out, laying on her back.

"How'd you know it was me?" Josh, who was a bit taken back asked.

"My parents don't knock, their pigs." Riley said finally focusing her attention on Josh.

"Well okay, aren't you guys supposed to be getting read for the dance?" Josh asked, confused to find the two girls sitting in the window as opposed to getting ready for their last middle school dance.

"Yeah we are soon." Riley said with her attention back on her phone.

"Okay cool. I actually wanted to talk to Maya." Josh said awkwardly and Maya finally looked up at him. She was very confused because he had been pretty distant from her throughout the week.

He had barely spoke to her, barely looked at her, and everytime she came around he miraculously had something else to do. She was confused, but didn't want to ask him about it. She just shurgged it off and decided that it was just him wanting some space from her.

"Okay, talk." Maya said sitting up and making room for him.

"I just wanted to tell you, well both of you, that I hope you have a good time tonight. Enjoy it!" Josh said and Riley cut him off before he could get to the second part.

"Awww thanks Josh." Riley said wrapping her arms around his neck. This made him and Maya smile. Once Riley let go Josh, Josh decided to finish his thoughts by turning his attention to Maya.

"Maya, I know you really wanted to go with someone but -" Josh started before he was cut off for the second time.

"Actually, I am going with someone now." Maya said confidently.

"Really? Who? When did that happen?" Josh said, shocked. Last time he checked, she was upset that she didn't have a date and now all of a sudden she's going with someone. This made him feel weird but he decided to brush off that weird feeling.

"I'm going with Ranger Rick's friend Zay. He asked me to go with him Wednesday and I said yes." Maya said with a smile.

"Yeah, I thought they would be good together. They're both rebellious." Riley said proud of herself for doing something that would make her bestfriend happy.

"Oh wow, that's um-" Josh said not being able to find the world. He ran his hand through his hair. "That's really great. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks." Maya responded.

Josh sat back and tried to ignore the saddness he felt knowing that Maya was going out with some guy, while he had no plans what so ever tonight. Even Auggie had plans, he was sleeping over at Dewey's house. A moment of silence had passed and it became increasingly awkward. Josh concentrated on nothing but the floor and Maya had focused her attention back to her phone.

Riley looked at Josh then back at Maya and a light went off in her head. She jumped up and said "Bay window, bay window right now!"

"We're already here." Maya pointed out then Riley sat back down.

"You're right! Get out." Riley said.

"Me?" Maya gasped in shock.

"You!" Riley replied curtly.

"Fine, I guess I'll go have some of the chocolate cake in the kitchen." Maya said completely offended that she was kicked out of the bay window. Maya closed the door behind her then turned her attention to Josh.

"You!" Riley exclaimed pointing at Josh.

"What did I do?" Josh asked.

"You're jealous."

"Jealous of what?"

"You're jealous the Maya is going to the dance with someone else"

"Pssst...why would I be jealous. I'm 18, Maya's 15, I'm going to college in 2 months and she's going to high school, why would I be jealous?" Josh said but Riley was unconvinced.

"Because you two have been spending an awful lot of time together everytime you visit, and your visits have become more and more frequent, what is that about?"

"Riley, I don't know where you're going with this but I don't have feelings for Maya." Josh said after her jumped up from his seat.

"I never said you did." Riley said with a knowing smirk. "I said you were jealous that she was going to the dance with Zay."

Josh got up and walked to the door. Riley saying what she said really made him question his feelings. Was he jealous? Did he really like Maya ? Or at least have feelins for her? He shook those ideas out of his mind and reminded himself that he was too old for her, just like he did every other time he questioned his feelings for Maya.

An hour and a half passed and the girls were ready for their dance. Topanga and Cory, plus Shawn and Katy surrounded the threshold that led to the living room to make sure they got pictures of Riley and Maya walking into the living room.

Riley had decided to wear a long pink dress and a pair of flats. Her hair was curled as usual and she even decided to wear perfume for the occasion.

Maya decided to wear a medium length white dress

Both of the girls walked out at the same time to a bunch of flashes. When they finally stopped, both girls went to hug their respective parents and then hugged each other's parents.

"Josh, do you think you could take a picture of all of us together?" Shawn asked, while holding out his camera for Josh to grab.

"Sure." Josh said grabbing the camera from Shawn. The girls stood in the middle with their parents on the side.

"Alright guys, smile." Josh said and all six of them smiled together.

After Josh took the picture and gave the camera back to Shawn, Riley went to talk to both sets of parents and Maya decided to go talk to Josh.

"Well, what do you think? How do I look?" Maya asked Josh. He looked at her in amazement before walking towards her. She followed suit and started walking towards him as well.

Josh grabbed her right hand and looked her in her eyes. He smiled at her before kissing her hand and putting it back down. Not surprisingly, this went unscene by everyone except for Riley who smirked but decided to play it cool and not draw any attention to them. It was obviously hard for her, but she played it off pretty well.

Riley had already decided that she was going to keep her conversation with Josh to herself. She knew it would be difficult to keep something from her best friend, but she also didn't want to give Maya any false hope either. She figured it would be better to keep this to herself than to tell Maya and she gets hurt.

"You look gorgeous as usual." Josh said before awkwardly stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Thank you." Maya said looking down slowly.

There was a knock at the door and Topanga ran over to answer it. She opened the door revealing, Lucas and Zay there to pick up Riley and Maya, with Farkle and Smackle as well.

"Hey guys." Riley said walking over to her friends. Maya followed closely behind but not before taking another look at Josh. Zay was cool and everything but there was a part of her that wished she could have gone with Josh. Even though he has told her a several occasions that he is too old for her, and they have finally come to an understanding, she still wished that she could be at the dance with Josh.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Zay walking over to her and calling her beautiful. Although she thought it was sweet, Josh calling her gorgeous, just a few moments prior meant way more to her than what Zay said.

"Thank you. You clean up nice, Zay." Maya said in her usually confident manner.

After taking a bunch of pictures and they finally left the Matthew's residence to go to the dance. Riley and Lucas and Farkle and Smackle spent most of their night together on the dance floor, while Maya and Zay sat at a table close by. Maya was completely uninterested in the dance and she couldn't understand why.

"Maya are you okay?" Zay asked noticing Maya's off mood.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said before looking down at her drink awkwardly. "Hey you wanna go dance?"

"Sure." Zay said.

Zay and Maya stood up and went to the dance floor to dance together. Riley noticed that they finally got up and started dancing and she smiled over at Maya. Maya forced a smile back and this did not go unnoticed by Riley.

Riley told Lucas that she had to do something, and Lucas completely understood as usual. She walked over to where Maya and Zay were and stood there for a few seconds contemplating whether or not to break them up. She finally decided to do it and she interrupted them.

"Sorry Zay, but I really need to talk to Maya." Riley yelled over the music and Zay nodded signaling that he was cool with.

Riley and Maya walked outside the gym before stopping.

"What?" Maya asked, kind of annoyed that Riley interrupted her time with Zay, especially when she was just starting to have a little fun.

"Maya, what's wrong?" Riley inquired.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Maya lied and Riley saw right through her.

"You look amazing. You have a great date, Maya, what's wrong? I just want you to be happy." Riley said genuinely and Maya gave her a hug.

"Riley, I'm fine, really." Maya said before walking back into the gym and to look for Zay. She couldn't find him but she saw Lucas and walked over to him to ask where Zay went.

"Lucas, where's Zay?" Maya said, to her own shock, she had called him by his actual name. She hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"He had - wait did you call me Lucas?" Lucas questioned. Maya cursed herself for slipping up but decided to just act like nothing happened.

"Bucky McBoingBoing, where'd Zay go?"

"He had to go home, his mom fell in the shower and he had to go help him up."

"Well this is just great." Maya said sarcastically, "Look I'm just gonna head home, I don't want to ruin tonight for you and Riley so just tell her what happened. Okay?"

"Okay." Lucas said and with that Maya left the gym and then the school to head home. She decided that before she headed home, she would stop at Topanga's to see if her mom was still there and to get a snack of course.

The subway ride and the walk from the subway station weren't that long. She got to Topanga's in less than 20 minutes. When she walked in, there weren't that many people there, just some college kids that were outside, and an elderly couple in the back. She started to walk over toward the counter to order but she heard someone call her name.

"Maya?" The voice called and she turned around confused. The confusion left her face when she realized that it was Josh that called her.

Josh had been seated in the window seat of Topanga's and she didn't even notice that he was there. She walked to where he was seated and sat down next to him

"Maya what are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be at the dance?"

"Yeah I was, but my date had to go home. He had some family issues he had to deal with." Maya said.

"Oh," was Josh's only response. He looked down at the floor in front of him and didn't say anything. Maya looked over at him, she had noticed that he had been standoffish, and distant towards her all week and she wanted to know why.

"Josh-" She started and he looked back up at her. When he looked at her she wanted to back down, but this has been something that's been bother her for a while now.

"What's up with you? You've been acting weird towards me lately. I thought we were passed the awkwardness what happened? Did I do something wrong?" Maya frantically before she lost the courage to ask.

"Maya" Josh finally spoke, his voice very similar to the first time he told her he was too old for him at the end of family game night, months ago.

"Yeah," She spoke softly.

"It's not you, it's me, because lately when I'm around you, you make me feel different, Maya, whenever I'm with you I feel weird, I keep getting thoughts, about you that I know are wrong because it's not right you're three years younger than me. But every time I see you I want to kiss you, and I get these weird feelings, that I'm not used to having. It's not right, it's inappropriate." After his speech he couldn't bring himself to look at Maya so he decided to concentrate on the ground.

Maya was stunned, her eyes got really wide and she couldn't find the words to speak. She just couldn't believe that Mr. "I'm too old for you" just admitted to having feelings for her. She was quiet, still, but decided this would probably be her only chance to do what she has only dreamed about doing. So she reached out to grab Josh's chin and turned his head to her so that he was looking her in her eyes.

"Josh…" She spoke softly and he didn't say anything. He just kept looking at her.

"Josh." She repeated a second time and then proceeded to grab his face between her hands and plant a soft kiss on his lips that lasted around five seconds but it was the most magnificent five seconds of her life. It wasn't her first kiss, but it was definitely a good one. This was probably the mist magically moment of her life.

Josh was completely caught off guard and stayed completely still while Maya kissed him. He closed his eyes as a reflex and allowed himself to enjoy the moment. He knew it probably wouldn't happen again for another three years so he wanted to savor the moment.

When Maya pulled back, she let her hands linger a moment on his face before dropping them and getting up and walking towards the door. She didn't know what to say to him and she didn't know how he felt about what she just did so she decided not to say anything. Instead she was going to walk home and pretend like it never happened.

Josh watched her walk away without doing or saying anything. He was still processing what had just happened. All of a sudden Josh came to the realization that Maya had just kissed him, and even more surprisingly he liked it. His thoughts were racing at million miles per second but then he finally decided to stand up and say something.

"Maya" He called and she looked back over at him.

"Yeah Josh?" She said softly not daring to make eye contact.

"It's late let me walk you home." Josh said before quickly grabbing his jacket and walking over to the door.


End file.
